Lake of Betrayal traces the history and little-known backstory of Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania and its impact on the Seneca Nation of Indians. Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and completed in 1965, it was originally proposed to help mitigate flooding in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. But the 27-mile reservoir that formed behind it inundated vast tracts of the Seneca Indians’ ancestral lands, forcing their removal in breach of the United States’ oldest treaty then in effect. The film looks at the Seneca Nation’s fight to protect its sovereignty against the U.S. government’s Indian termination policy and overwhelming political and economic forces driving the post-WWII boom.

Although the taking of Native lands for public works projects had been recurrent across the country, the Seneca people come together as a united force in an attempt to save their land, their culture, and their sovereignty. Believing that the Canandaigua Treaty of 1794 would spare them, and with an alternate plan for flood control in-hand, they waged an eight-year political battle unprecedented in Native American land disputes at the time. Although their struggles did not stop Kinzua Dam’s construction, the experience that came from the battle reinforced their instinct for survival and helped lay the groundwork for a stronger tribal governing structure that has allowed them to move forward while maintaining their culture and traditions.

For more information on this film, visit Vision Maker Media.